Arena Football is back in Southwest Louisiana. The AFL’s Louisiana Voodoo will play six home games beginning in April at the Lake Charles Event Center’s Sudduth Coliseum.

The Voodoo were a New Orleans-based team in the previous AFL, which went bankrupt in 2019.

Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter made the official announcement Friday. “This partnership with the AFL offers further evidence of a very bright future for Lake Charles and the Lake Charles Event Center,” he said. Hunter added that sustainability of the program here was the topic of many negotiating conversations.

AFL Commissioner Lee Hutton said the mayor had him at “Hello.” The plan is to offer entertainment beyond the game.

“It’s about a family passionate pastime,” he said, “a holistic experience that includes other activities that intertwine with the football experience.” He later listed diverse musical artists to suit the diverse population here, as well as adding festivals and hosting activities during the off season.

“When I look at the statistics, I think it’s a mistake to ignore that 50 percent or more of the fans are women.”

Let’s create those instagrammable moments, he said.

James Shiver, a Eunice native and current head football coach and administrator at St. Edmund High School and past coach of the Lake Charles Landsharks — a charter member of the National Indoor Football League — will be the Louisiana Voodoo coach.

The National Indoor Football League folded in 2008.

“For years Southwest Louisiana has been renowned as a youth sports capital and of course we have tons of youth championship events from high school to 7 and 8 youth, “ said Kyle Edmiston, president/CEO Visit Lake Charles. “Today we’re taking the next step forward.”

The 16 teams will be the most the AFL has featured since 2012. The other markets are Austin, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Bakersfield, Calif.; Chicago; Denver; St. Paul, Minn.; Cincinnati; Orlando, Fla.; Salem, Ore.; Philadelphia; San Antonio; Tallahassee, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; Everett, Wash.; and Odessa, Texas.